Dear President Shafik and Dean Chang,

We, the undersigned alumni of the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, write to you to express our unwavering support for the brave student organizers of the Gaza Solidarity Encampment on Butler Lawn. We are appalled by the administration’s recent decision to authorize police intervention against peaceful student protestors calling for the University’s divestment from companies profiting from Israeli apartheid. ‘Engineering for Humanity’ has been instilled in us throughout our education, and we are horrified to see Columbia act in a manner that is antithetical to our values. 

By authorizing the NYPD to arrest over 100 peaceful protestors on April 18, 2024, and disregarding the University Senate’s opposition to such action, you have blatantly endangered hundreds of students, staff, and faculty engaging in Columbia’s longstanding tradition of campus activism. You have mischaracterized CUAD’s actions and claimed that “the encampment and related disruptions pose a clear and present danger to the substantial functioning of the University,” effectively placing a target on the back of every member of Columbia University Apartheid Divest. This irresponsible misrepresentation of CUAD’s actions has emboldened external entities to doxx, harass, and threaten hundreds of Columbia students. Those of us that have visited the encampment can attest to the false narrative you have perpetuated. We would characterize this protest as a beautiful act of resistance, unifying students across different backgrounds and disciplines in their shared commitment to academic freedom, student activism, and support for Palestinian liberation.  

We condemn this mass arrest of student protestors and Legal Observers criticizing the ongoing genocide in Gaza, the ongoing threats against students, the unprecedented levels of academic repression on campus, and the unjustified circumvention of due process in disciplinary actions against them. We also condemn your perpetual disregard for the ongoing genocide and failure to protect the wellbeing of pro-Palestinian students, Muslim students, and students of color. You must end the University’s prejudicial treatment against your students for their principled support of Palestinian liberation. 

We pledge to boycott University events and withhold all donations until you heed the demands of Columbia University Apartheid Divest, including financial transparency, divestment, and amnesty for all student activists, and until you uphold the basic tenets of academic freedom.

In Unconditional Solidarity With CUAD,

Alumni of Columbia Engineering